As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
